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LOS ANGELES -- UCLA head men's water polo coach Adam Wright has announced the signing of goalkeeper Bernardo Maurizi to a National Letter of Intent to attend UCLA in the fall of 2019. Maurizi (6-2, Florence, Italy/Salesiani Firenze) joins a class that consists of three players from California including utility Giorgio Alessandria (6-3, Lafayette, Calif./Campolindo HS), center Gabe Discipulo (6-3, Santa Cruz, Calif./Bellarmine College Preparatory), and attacker Tommy Gruwell (6-4, San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic HS).
Maurizi is a multi-sport standout in Florence at Salesiani Firenze and competes for Rari Nantes Florentia, one of the oldest water polo club programs in Serie A1 di pallamano maschile, the premier division of Italian water polo. He has served as captain of the Rari Nantes Florentia men's water polo team in three age groups (U13, U15, and U17) and was named the Best Italian Water Polo Goalkeeper at both the U13 and U15 Italian Men's Water Polo National Championships. In 2015, he won an Italian National Championship at the U15s and placed third at the U17s in 2017. He recently served as the starting goalie for Italy at the FINA World Men's Youth Water Polo Championships in 2018 (Aug. 19) in Szombathely, Hungary as the Italians placed seventh with a 12-6 win over Australia in the seventh-place game.
A three-time regional championship winner at U13s and U15s, he also served as the starting goalkeeper for the Italian National Water Polo Team during the U17 European Championship in Malta as Italy placed sixth, falling to Serbia (7-4) in the fifth-place game. Most recently (Sept. 2, 2018), he was a backup goalie for Italy at the U19 European Championship in Minsk, Belarus where Italy fell to the eventual champions Greece in the quarterfinals (9-8), but rallied to defeat Russia (11-4) and Serbia (8-4) to place fifth.
"Bernardo has been playing the goalkeeper position since he was 11 years old and has a ton of high level international experience," Wright said. "He has also trained and played in the Italian National Team Program. He possesses a strong work ethic and has a great attitude that will make him very successful in his future with UCLA. We are very excited to welcome Bernardo into the Bruin family and know that he will only help move our culture forward."
An all-around athlete, Maurizi enjoys playing basketball and soccer and won back-to-back long jump titles in track and field (athletics). He comes from an athletic family as his grandfather, Mauro, was an amateur cyclo-cross National Champion in Italy, while his mother, Daniela, was a regional cross-country skiing champion. His father, Massimo, is an ultra runner and his brother, Filippo, has also played water polo for seven years. Has an older brother, Niccolo, that is an amateur polo champion (horse) and a younger brother, Tommaso, that is a regional amateur basketball champion.
"I love the school and the campus," Maurizi said. "I am convinced UCLA is the best place to achieve my goals both athletically and academically."